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"Our
Struggles With Transparency” Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – June 22,
2014 Centenary United
Psalm 34: 8-20; Matthew 10:24-31 One of the
interesting things about the English language is that people are adding
about 150 million new words each month.
While we find this figure staggering to imagine, it helps to
grasp such a number by recognizing that most new words enter the
dictionary from the fields of science, medicine and technology.
A few words
come into being by ordinary people like us.
The word, selfie, for
example, describes a picture we take of ourselves with our cell phones.
Sending a tweet is a
message sent by a cell phone with a limit of 140 characters. The word,
Bitcoin is an experimental
form of digital currency that does not need the backing of a central
bank. A word that has taken on a broader meaning in a number of English-speaking societies is transparency. We hear this word used quite often to describe the complete disclosure of the smallest details on every level of governmental, business and personal transactions. The claim of a lack of transparency is what caused the recent resignation of our former Premier. This morning we
are going to discuss transparency as it relates to our personal lives. Currently, many
of the world’s leaders are struggling with where to draw the line
between what information should be made public and what information is
too sensitive to be shared with anyone.
We live in a society where some people cannot get enough information about what is going on in the lives of other people. Entire magazines are devoted to uncovering and exposing explosive issues in the lives of the rich and famous. We know we are growing older and have become more mature when we see these headlines and we ask ourselves, “Who are these people? Why is it that I don’t recognize any of them?” However, if we ask our kids, all of them will know. There are also
espionage agents that want to know everything that is going on inside of
industrial research centers.
Governments want to know what international leaders are thinking so they
eavesdrop on personal telephone conversations.
This is the kind of information that Edward Snowden took with him
from the Central Intelligence Agency when he sought asylum in The availability of information has suddenly burst on to the stage of humanity unlike anything we have ever known. The tension is strong over how much information is too much. Last year, Conrad Farnsworth, a high school student, built a nuclear reactor in his parents’ garage. Much of his information came from the Internet. There is no way anyone can be sheltered from the flow of information without the intervention by highly sophisticated equipment. Likewise we cannot stop others from knowing about every purchase we make with a credit card. Our phone lines can be tapped. Our wireless phone messages can be intercepted. Our emails can be read. Even a casual conversation can be captured word for word when there are no microphones to over hear what we say. Most of us have watched televised athletic events where the Goodyear blimp has provided glimpses of the stadium below. A friend of mine sent to me an e-mail attachment that demonstrated the power of the new cameras that are being installed in many public places. These cameras
can take movies of a stadium filled with people from the same height as
the Goodyear blimp and can magnify each individual seated below in high
resolution. Skilled persons could easily read the lips of people
talking. This camera is
capable of such clarity that it can zoom in on the size of the
engagement ring on the finger of a high profile personality. Such remarkable
technology was developed so that if a terrorist event occurs officials
could readily identify the culprits simply by reviewing the footage
prior to the event. Imagine
what such cameras can do in the hands of people who want to peer into
windows to read documents that are on a scientist’s desk!
One of the reasons why
we need to be so forgiving of each other is that the only thing that
separates most of us from each other is that our thoughts, attitudes and
emotions are not transparent.
A lot is going on inside of us that would embarrass us beyond
belief if our colleagues, friends and family had access to our thoughts,
feelings and desires. Today's
Scripture lesson provides 21st century advice.
People that are growing and
learning will obviously make mistakes and errors in their judgments.
All of us do this all the time.
Jesus was reassuring his
listeners when he said, Do not be afraid of
people. Whatever is now
covered up will be uncovered and every secret will be made known.
Do not be afraid of those who can kill our bodies.
It is impossible for them to kill the spirit-being that occupies
the vehicle in which we live.
The people who think and act
in secret should become aware
of God's power. God is the
one who determines the destiny of all of us. (Matthew 10:26f) These are words
that let us know that there are no secrets.
For God, everything
about us is transparent. It
is curious when we watch the footage of the insurgents that are
overtaking one city after another in One would think
that if people are proud of what they were doing, they would want to
show the world who they are.
Contributors to the world want to be published.
They want to appear on talk shows and be interviewed by
reporters. They want people
to know who they are. They
crave transparency for their new book, their cause, their thoughts and
attitudes. There are a lot of
people in our world that will never be caught for the crimes they have
committed. They have gotten
away with stealing millions of dollars from innocent people.
It is estimated that cyber-crime is costing the world 445 billion
dollars a year, or almost one percent of the total income of the world’s
people. Criminals
believe that they are safe. Even though their secret desires and
exploits are totally transparent to God, many of them do not have God in
their consciousness. They
imagine that God is just for religious people.
Regardless of
what people believe, brain research over the last 20 years has
demonstrated that every thought, every secret desire and every deed has
been carefully preserved inside of us.
Marilu Henner is one of the few people on earth that has perfect
recall of everything she has ever experienced.
There is a television program called
Unforgettable that features a
woman that has this rare ability called autobiographical memory.
Some of us would say, “She has a
photographic memory.”
Just because we cannot
recall everything that we have experienced does not mean that these
events and experiences are no longer a part of our collected memories.
Not only does God know everything about us, so do we.
God does not need to be our judge and jury as many religious
people believe. We are the
ones who have the data on the quality of our thoughts, desires and
choices. When our attitudes
and behavior teach the world how
to sing, all is well. What Jesus was telling
his listeners goes to the core of each of us.
Life is like a gigantic
parenthesis in time.
Each of us enters life with nothing when
our parenthesis opens.
As hard as we try to hold on to our accomplishments, our assets
and all the things that we
have accumulated, we leave with nothing when
our parenthesis closes.
The Scriptures
tell us that all of us have fallen short by living lives that have
missed the mark. We have
been told that perfection is something we will never grasp.
Preachers have told us how wonderful God is because God is
merciful and forgiving. What
is interesting is that our experience of life is not about what God can
do. The gift of life is
about our life-experiences, our choices, our autobiography and our very
personal movie. Life is the
perfect testimony of who we
have become with the time we have.
Try to imagine that
there was a time when God explained to the angels what life will be like
for them if they choose to enter the physical forms that all of us have.
God probably said
something like this: So, you angels want
to create just as I do. I
will give you that opportunity.
You will go to sleep and wake up in a physical form that may last
anywhere from less than one hour to over one hundred years.
You will have no knowledge of who you are or where you come from.
As long as your body survives, you will grow up in a world filled
with remarkable mysteries to explore.
You will have the same ability to create as I have. Your
creations will come from what you desire.
Use this ability well and you will discover that your potential
will expand. Use it to serve
only yourself, and you will discover that most of what you create you
will leave behind when you return. You will have the unique experience
of believing that your pleasures and sorrows are very real.
While you will not remember this during your experience, I would
never allow you to enter a world where you were ever in any danger.
Enjoy your adventure. Recognizing
that total transparency is a wonderful gift, Jesus said, “Go into the
world and help others to discover their true identity.
As they serve one another, they will become one with us.”
(Mark 9:40f)
All of us need to remember that life is a marvelous process of moving from one level of awareness to the next while experiencing our journey. The beautiful, fragrant flowers that we become eventually give way as our fruit begins to form. Life is never about what we look like; life is about what we produce. We are always transparent to God and to ourselves. When we love ourselves in the same manner that we love others, the world around us will always sing. |